


Wolves of the Water Tribes

by YeetAroundTheBush



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeetAroundTheBush/pseuds/YeetAroundTheBush
Summary: Wolves have always been close to the moon. Before the moon taught the tribes bending, it taught them the way of the wolf.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Wolves of the Water Tribes

Every child in the world is told the history of their people at a young age. The Fire Nation tells stories of heroes defending the honor of the people, of dragons giving them the power of fire. The Air Nomads spun anecdotes about morals and peaceful resolutions, and how the sky bison taught the nomads how to manipulate the air. The Earth Kingdom regaled tales of unwavering opponents with unmatched bravery who refused to back down, just like the badgermoles that brought them bending (At this point humans had long forgotten that the lion turtles bestowed bending upon them).

And then there were the water tribes.

They too recited stories of heroics from days gone past. They too had anecdotes for morals. They too had tales of unwavering enemies. What stuck out was the stories behind their bending. Instead of, perhaps, a penguin otter showing waterbenders to control the currents or a seal-bear to display the flowing change, the water tribes had something entirely different. The water tribes were taught by the moon.

This in itself was slightly problematic, seeing as the moon was in the sky and not physically there. While the moon spirit was pondering how to show the humans waterbending, the other nations used their newfound gifts to enter an age of prosperity. The water tribes were stuck at a disadvantage.Time passed and they were stuck in the past. To fix this, the moon spirit came up with a temporary solution. The moon had always been connected to wolves, so the spirit used that connection. Tui gave the tribes the ability to turn into wolves. 

The other nations have legends of creatures that are part beast and part man, regarded as nothing but fiction. Tui and La soon figured out how to demonstrate waterbending through the tides, and the Water Tribes prospered. But the Moon allowed the humans to keep the way of the wolf so long as they never told the other nations.

The Avatar Cycle was the only threat to their secret. If the avatar told the secret, hundreds of thousands of years of secrecy would crumble. Whenever a child who is unable to shift into a wolf appears, the tribes know they are the avatar. The historians suspect that since the original avatar did not possess the gift, none of their water tribe reincarnations could change form. They were sworn to secrecy, and for longer than humans could remember, the secret held.

The water tribes have followed these rules for longer than the avatar has existed, and they weren’t about to stop now. Except the Southern Water Tribe might have to reveal this to survive. The Air Nomads had no such secret, yet they still fell to the fires.

The Fire Nation launched attack after attack, stealing away their waterbenders. The raids had taken a toll on them, causing their numbers to dwindle. Their men and women left to fight in the one hundred year war. All that was left were those too old and too young to fight. This left the tribe exposed and vulnerable, and the elderly feared another attack. They could defend themselves if they exposed the secret, but they didn’t want to risk the moon spirit’s wrath.

It’s quite the predicament they faced. While the elders held whispered discussions to decide what they would do, the small children played in both human and wolf form. While two teenage siblings argued and bickered on a small canoe, another teen stood on the deck of his ship looking for something that could help his search. While a young airbender stayed frozen under the ice, a firebending master made plans for the end of the summer. 

The ball was about to start rolling. The plan was about to be set in motion. All that was needed was a young waterbender to get pissed at her sibling.

**Author's Note:**

> Just something i had lying around from a few years ago. Now that there's a resurgence in avatar fans, i figured i'd post it. If enough people like it, i'll make it a series.


End file.
